TEHRAN, Mar. 06 (MNA) – It is around 37 years that Iran is giving home to Afghan refugees affected by years of war in the poor country and Germany will join this humanitarian cause offering €1mn to NRC.

The Federal Republic of Germany signed an agreement with the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) today through which it is contributing one million Euros to support efforts by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran towards improving the lives of vulnerable Afghans living in the country.

This new contribution will enable NRC to provide education support, information, counselling and legal assistance as well as income generating activities such as vocational training and business grants to 6,808 Afghans in the provinces of Kerman and Khorasan Razavi.

“The support we are receiving from the government and the people of Germany is built on the partnership we developed previously and which enabled us in 2017 to reach over 13,000 Afghan girls, boys, women and men and members of the host communities,” said Olivier Vandecasteele, NRC Country Director in Iran. “Thanks to this new contribution, we will be able to scale up a response that has already had a proven impact”.

NRC will implement a holistic approach and use the funds to deliver accelerated learning programs for out-of-school children to enable them to catch-up and reintegrate into public schools at a grade level suitable for their age. These children will also benefit from hygiene promotion training, access to safe communal water facilities and will be able to study in rehabilitated and equipped classrooms. Improving opportunities for learning new skills and establishing small businesses will help improve vulnerable Afghans’ access to livelihoods. In addition, NRC will continue to offer counselling and unconditional cash assistance to most vulnerable families.

"As there are now over 65 million refugees in the world, giving support to countries that take in particularly large numbers of refugees is an important aspect of Germany's international ‎endeavors to actively steer and shape migration movements,” said Michael Klor-Berchtold, German Ambassador to Iran. “That is why Germany decided to continue its support for the protection, care and access to rights and opportunities of Afghan refugees in Iran by again contributing one million Euros to the Norwegian Refugee Council throughout 2018”.

“After over one million asylum seekers and migrants reached the European Union in 2015,” Mr. Klor-Berchtold stated, “Germany is fully aware that protection, care and investing in equal rights and opportunities for newcomers is a big challenge for‎ every country."

An estimated 3.6 million Afghans and over 28,000 Iraqis currently reside in Iran.

NRC is an independent humanitarian organization helping people forced to flee. It has been operating in Iran since 2012. In 2017, NRC has provided humanitarian assistance to 54,076 beneficiaries in the provinces of Tehran, Semnan, Qom, Alborz, Khorasan Razavi, Kerman and Kermanshah.